There's a bit missing - Does censored 16th century book offer clues about our ancestors' attitudes to the female body?

Diagram from a 1559 edition of Thomas Geminio's Compediosa Totius Anatomie Delineatio, which features a depiction of a semi-dissected female torso, where the book's original owner has cut away a neat triangle of paper on which the vagina would have been drawn (Image: PA)

A censored 16th century anatomy book may provide evidence that taboos slowed the development of knowledge of the female body, Cambridge researchers have said.

The 1559 edition of Thomas Gemin i's Compediosa Totius Anatomie Delineatio features a depiction of a semi-dissected female torso, where the book's original owner has cut away a neat triangle of paper where the genitals would have been drawn.

It will be displayed in an exhibition at St John's College, and curator Shelley Hughes said it may offer clues as to why knowledge of the female anatomy lagged behind that of the human body as a whole.

Diagram from a 1559 edition of Thomas Geminio's Compediosa Totius Anatomie Delineatio, which features a depiction of a semi-dissected female torso, where the book's original owner has cut away a neat triangle of paper on which the vagina would have been drawn (Image: PA)

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She said the book's original owner was "disturbed by its depiction of a semi-dissected female torso".

"We know this because the offending part, a neat triangle of paper on which the vagina would have been drawn, has been carefully cut away."

She continued: "Sin and female flesh were held in close association in 16th century society with naked women often portrayed as the servants of Satan.

"Perhaps Christian Europe would have to overcome its shame over the female reproductive organs in order to discover more about their structure."

Diagram from a 1559 edition of Thomas Geminio's Compediosa Totius Anatomie Delineatio, which features a depiction of a semi-dissected female torso, where the book's original owner has cut away a neat triangle of paper on which the vagina would have been drawn (Image: PA)

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The 16th century was a time of medical revolution, with pioneering researchers such as Andreas Vesalius challenging accepted views on anatomy, with evidence gathered from human dissections and direct observation experiment.